Dark
by ChrisDonati
Summary: Artemis Fowl and Holly Short wake up in a fully sealed, pitch black room with none of their equipment and no obvious way to escape. Together, they must put their skills to the test and find not only a way to escape, but find who is responsible. However, that's not all they'll have to resolve. What will it take for the two prisoners to finally admit how they feel for each other?
1. Dark

**In the interest of clarity, something that has been missing in this story for quite a while (My mistake, of course), this story is set sometime between Lost Colony and Time Paradox (5 & 6), and therefore acts as if everything after Lost Colony is void. I hope that clears things up.**

 **DARK**

The first thing Holly Short registered when she woke up was that she couldn't see anything. Her first thought was that she'd gone blind, but the changing focus in her mismatched eyes told her that she could very much still see. Unfortunately, there wasn't any light present to see anything with. She was laying on something hard and cold, possibly stone or concrete. The space itself was also quite cool, but the air felt stale and uncirculated. She quietly shivered to herself, the cold that elves were so susceptible to creeping up on her. No, it wasn't just the cold, there was something else to, but Holly couldn't put her finger on what it was. Gingerly, she tried to stand up. Trying to think like the cop she was, she decided that it would be a good idea to see how big her confines were. With nothing to guide her, she began walking. It felt like she had been walking forever, but just as she was about to take a break, her foot snagged on something. Unsure of what it was, she tested her foot against it again. It was a leg. Someone else was in this room with her. She could hear them breathing, and with the increased rate, she knew they were now awake.  
"Hello?" She asked tentatively, her heart beating out of her chest.  
"Holly?" The voice replied, and relief flooded her body. "You kicked my leg."

Holly wanted to laugh at Artemis' introductory line, but she was unsure if there was anybody else in the room with her. Artemis, however, didn't seem to see it as a problem.  
"Darkness" He began. "Interesting. Either they don't see us as a high enough value target to pay the electric bill, or they purposefully want us disoriented."  
"Keep us in the dark so they always have the advantage" Holly said on autopilot.  
"Always the cop" Artemis replied. "But you've already made one rather large oversight."  
Holly couldn't wait for this, Artemis' chance to prove himself a genius once again.  
"OK then Artemis, I'll bite."  
"What if I had been hostile. You never went for your gun."  
Holly instinctively went for her gun, the trusty Neutrino 3000, which was usually strapped to her hip. But as she brought her hand to her side, she found the space empty. It wasn't there. Infact, come to think of it, everything was gone. Her uniform, her helmet, everything.  
"OK Artemis, what have you done with my stuff?" She asked, sure that this was Arty attempting to prove a point. Arty. She must never let him know she thinks of him by that nickname.  
"I haven't done anything with them. I don't have any of my things either, besides a few scraps of paper in my pocket."  
Holly couldn't see him, but he sounded sincere. Not that she could easily tell when he was lying, however. She didn't like this one bit.  
"OK" She said, thinking back to her training. "We have 3 basic questions to answer." She took Artemis' silence as agreement. "Where are we? Why are we here? And how did we get here?"  
"I don't know where we are" Artemis conceded, "But I think that's the point. We're not supposed to know where we are."  
"OK then, Haven or the surface?"  
"Considering you're here, and not being experimented on in a lab, logic would say Haven." Artemis said flatly. Charming imagery, Holly thought, it's nice to see how he sees the human race.  
"However, the room has a very high ceiling, and they could be keeping you as leverage on me."  
"So basically, you don't know."  
Artemis considered it for a moment. "Yes. I don't know."

Neither Artemis nor Holly could come up with a suitable answer for either of the other two questions, so Holly decided that they should probably search for a way out, just in case it gave them any ideas.  
"I've already tried" Artemis said just as Holly was about to set off. "The walls are completely smooth, no flaws or anything that could give us a potential exit. I believe it could be one of the reasons for such a high ceiling; that there's a hatch they dropped us through."  
"Great, Artemis Fowl has all the answers but none of the solutions."  
"Is that sarcasm I can detect Holly Short" He replied, and Holly blushed. Right then, she was grateful he couldn't see her, he wouldn't stop going on about it. Still, it was nice to have the attention of Artemis Fowl.  
"Sarcasm? Me? Never."  
"It's nice to see I can depend on you to be professional." He laughed. Then he surprised Holly. "I wish I could see your face." She hadn't expected that at all.  
"Why, forgetting what it looks like already?"  
"No, it's just... Reassuring" He said, almost hesitantly. If there's one thing Artemis Fowl is not often, it's hesitant. Holly wanted to respond, but she suddenly felt an incredible pressure inside her head. Visions flashed across her brain, a weird set of images that didn't make any sense. Her legs suddenly felt non-existent, and she stumbled, but Artemis caught her.  
"It's OK" He said, genuine concern filling his voice, "I've got you. Don't worry Holly, I've got you." She felt like a dead weight, and so let Artemis lay her down on top of him. Right now, she could just lay on him all day, he certainly didn't feel too bad...  
"What happened?" Holly asked, bringing herself back into reality.  
"You collapsed" He replied. "I caught you."  
"I can tell" She said, perhaps more sternly than she had intended. Holding her head in her hands, she tried to focus. "I saw... Images. I don't know what they mean though."  
"Flashbacks" Artemis replied as matter-of-factly as possible. "Whatever amnesiac they used in their knockout drug must not work the same in fairies as it does humans." Holly nodded her agreement, not that he could see it, and attempted to stand up, but almost fell straight back to the floor.  
"Woah" Artemis said, steadying her. "I think you should lay down for a while."  
"I'm fine" Holly protested, but nobody would move Artemis Fowl once he's made up his mind. "Since when did you care so much about my wellbeing anyway?"  
"Holly!" Artemis said, shocked. "You are my best friend, of course I care about you. I care about you more than anybody."  
That statement surprised Holly. It took something big to get Artemis Fowl to tell someone he cared about them. Is it at all possible that?... No, surely it isn't possible...

Holly Short had been having conflicting feelings about Artemis Fowl for a while now. During their time together saving the world (Both above and below ground), they had grown close to each other. Artemis had even once managed to save her life, bringing her back from the dead using his incredible genius. But Holly had no idea about his true feelings for her, nor could she decipher her feelings for him. She always tried to deny it to herself, but something deep down wanted nothing more than to blurt out 'I love you' and be done with it. No, her and Artemis would never work. He was a human and she was an elf after all.  
"Trust humans to create something incompatible with fairies" She said, making sure she didn't let her distractions be known.  
"Huh, compatible" Artemis laughed. That certainly grabbed Holly's attention.  
"What was that?"  
"Nothing" Artemis said, backtracking. Obviously he hadn't meant to say that out loud.  
"Oh no, that wasn't 'nothing'" Holly said, unmoved.  
"I'm not telling you." He replied. Damn Fowls always being stubborn.  
"Artemis Fowl II" Holly said, using his full title, "You will tell me. Don't make me use the _mesmer_ on you."  
Artemis knew that Holly would never use the _Mesmer_ , one of her many magical abilities. That allowed her to get the truth out of anybody, on him, but he also knew that she wouldn't give up.  
"Fine" He said, letting out a large, dramatic sigh. "I suppose I should tell you. A few weeks ago, I talked with Foaly about Fairy genetics, namely cross-species compatibility. Foaly had never had any human samples to run for his tests, so I sent him ones from myself and the rest of my family, Juliet and Butler included."  
"Carry on" Holly said, intrigued.  
"We came out with some interesting results. Unlike within a species, where everyone is compatible with everyone to a large extent, mixing fairies and humans varies on a case by case basis. In addition, no two matches were 100%. Then, we ran one final simulation through the machine, and it came back as 100% compatible.  
"Who were they?" Holly asked, her interest piqued.  
"Us." Artemis said. Holly's heart skipped a beat. Did Artemis Fowl just say the two of them were fully compatible? That meant they could theoretically work... No! Herself and Artemis were just friends; Best friends yes, but only friends. Nothing more.  
"Well now you know." Artemis said. Holly didn't know how to read Artemis' voice. It almost seemed embarrassed, or nervous. But that was not Artemis Fowl. She wanted to change the subject, but fortunately Artemis did it for her.  
"So, what flashbacks did you have?"


	2. Reactions

It was hard to describe the flashbacks, they had come so fast and left so soon, but eventually she managed to isolate them enough to give Artemis a decent idea of what they were. The first one was easy enough, it was just a picture of the night's sky. A nice, clear night's sky. That did, however, give them a greater indication that they were on the surface, rather than underground in the fairy city of Haven. The second picture was the same night's sky, but there was something else there- a shooting star. At least it looked like one to Holly; Being underground for so long meant she had near enough never seen one before in her 80 odd years. Artemis thought, from her description, that it was more likely a rogue comet. That sounded like a shooting star enough to Holly. The 3rd flashback was the one that really made an imprint in Holly's mind, however. It was of Artemis; he was laying in some type of sun lounger, staring at the night sky. There was a building behind them, which looked suspiciously like Fowl Manor, and Butler was stood beside them. But the best part was what he was wearing- a pair of bright yellow sunglasses.  
"Yellow!" Artemis practically screamed once Holly had revealed it. "There is no way I wore yellow sunglasses, especially not at night."  
"Believe me, you did. If anything, that's why I can remember this scene so well."  
"Well" Artemis considered, "From your description I believe we were on the front porch outside Fowl Manor. It would take a miracle to take us from there, especially with Butler around, so we must have moved for some reason." Artemis paused, which caught Holly off guard. "I wonder what happened to Butler. It must have take something special to defeat him." Holly agreed. Butler was a man mountain, built like a rock, and proficient in martial arts that didn't actually exist yet. And he never left Artemis' side if it were possible.  
"None of this helps us get out of here" Holly said. She went to make another sarcastic remark, but then it hit her again. NO! She thought, bringing her hands up to her temples. The pictures flashed across her vision again, blurring her view. She let out a little groan as her knees gave way and she fell backwards, but once again Artemis, who had been alerted when she let out the groan, was there to catch her.  
"We have to stop ending up like this" Holly managed to get out just as a sharp pain ripped through her chest. She arched her back involuntarily as a response, squirming in Artemis' hands.  
"Holly, breathe" He commanded. She hadn't realised she'd stopped breathing, but she had. And, no matter how she tried, she couldn't start again. A sudden panic filled her as she fought to regain control of her body, but she couldn't win. If it was possible for the world to get darker, then it did. And then she was gone.

Holly shot back to consciousness with the speed of a guilty Pixie, her body forcing itself awake. She took in a great gasp of air as she sat herself up, remembering that it was a good idea to breathe. Her entire body ached, as if every muscle had been stretched past their breaking point. The cold was even worse now that it was before, and she had started shivering. It was at this point she realised that she was not entirely uncomfortable. The hard, solid floor had been replaced by a much softer surface. There was only one explanation.  
"Artemis."  
The sound of her voice caused him to sit up himself. "Holly, you're awake."  
"Yes, I am." She replied. Then to the real question. "Why am I laying on you?"  
"You passed out" He replied, so matter-of-factly. "I wanted to make you comfortable. The stone floor is rather inadequate, so I improvised."  
Holly couldn't argue with that reasoning, he was more comfortable than the floor.  
"Holly, you're shaking." Artemis said, his voice tinged with concern. Trust him to pick up on everything. "Here, take my jacket." He took off his suit jacket, offering it to Holly. She wanted to reject it, to be polite, but right now it was definitely needed. Still, manners first.  
"You keep it Artemis, you need it too."  
"No Holly, I insist."  
"You do know that it'll be far too big for me" Holly countered.  
"I do, but it'll keep you warm."  
Holly didn't want to argue anymore, so she took the suit jacket and put it on, ignoring the fact it practically covered her like a blanket. Suddenly she didn't feel as cold, but she also felt rather jaded, despite not doing much at all. She knew she really shouldn't, but in her exhaustion she wanted nothing more than to lay down, so she rested herself back onto Artemis, though tried not to be too obvious.  
"You can lay on me" Artemis suddenly said, "No need to be embarrassed." He picked her up, moving her so that they were practically cuddling. If she hadn't felt so out of it, embarrassed is exactly how she would have felt, but right now she was far too comfortable to complain.  
"How long was I out?" Holly asked. She had no idea, but she knew Artemis would have been counting.  
"Just over 3 hours. I've been in here long enough now that I'm rather hungry. These conditions really are sub-optimal."  
That made Holly laugh, but as the laughter filled her chest, it became rather painful.  
"Artemis" She began, but she didn't know if she could say the rest. She didn't know how he would react. "I think something isn't right with me."  
Artemis nodded in the darkness, then pushed his hand through her hair to comfort her, and let her continue.  
"It hurt when I laughed, like something in my chest is wounded, but usually my magic would fix me if I'm hurt. I don't understand."  
Artemis cleared his throat. "The most likely explanation is that you don't have any magic left to heal. I believe that you had a very bad adverse reaction to whatever they drugged us with, because, after you passed out, you magic started swarming around you. It must have all been used up trying to stop the allergic reaction."  
Holly didn't know what to say to this, so she just let Artemis continue.  
"The sparks did finally provide some light, however, and I finally got to see what our surroundings look like."  
"What do they look like?"  
"Not much. The whole place is completely bare. But I do have some good news; It finally allowed me to go over the place in full detail. I think I found a weak spot."  
That had Holly's full attention. "A weak spot?"  
"There's a point on the wall behind us that has a depression. I believe it could be a potential flaw in the design.  
"For someone who may have just found our way out, you don't sound very excited."  
"It's not in my nature to get excited over these things"  
"Don't I know it" Holly muttered, rolling her eyes. "So how do we get through."  
"We break through. With force. If we apply enough pressure, the concrete should break."  
"Well then let's do it!" Holly shouted, standing up. She immediately regretted that decision, and fell back to the floor. This time Artemis wasn't there to catch her.  
"You need to rest" He said, picking her back up. "Then we'll do it."


	3. Breaking Free

**The wondrous 3rd chapter is here. Having already actually written this as one 18-odd-thousand word story without chapters, I'm having to come up with the chapter names as I upload. Let's all escape the cage.**

They waited another hour for Holly to recuperate. Without her magic to help, it was taking longer for her to get her energy back, but within time she was walking around again, and quite easily trading sarcastic remarks with Artemis. It was at this point that he decided she was ready.  
"So where is this weak spot then?" Holly asked.  
"If you would like to follow me" Artemis replied. The only problem was that it was pitch black. How can you follow someone you can't see? Of course, Artemis had all the answers, though it really wasn't a very complicated solution. He simply linked his arm in Holly's, and led the way. After taking a good few steps, they reached the wall.  
"Reach your arm out and feel it." Artemis instructed. Holly reached out, felling the smooth, cold wall. As she ran her hand across, she could feel the wall begin to dip slightly. She'd found the depression.  
"OK I've found it. So we just have to hit this hard enough to cause it to smash?"  
"That is the idea, yes."  
"We're going to have to do a running jump at the wall to have any chance of breaking through, you do know that?" She asked expectantly.  
"Holly, I spent a good deal of the time when you were unconscious trying to test the weak point, I know what we have to do. Unfortunately, I'm just not strong enough to do it by myself."  
"So you wanted to wait until I was awake?"  
"Only if you were well enough. I'm not going to put you in any danger."  
"Artemis, I'm fine." Holly said dryly. She certainly felt a lot better than she did an hour ago.  
"Well in that case" Artemis said, taking her hand and leading her back to the wall on the other side of the room. "We're going to need all the momentum we can get."  
"On 3, mud boy?" Holly asked. Artemis shook his head.  
"I really wish you wouldn't call me that."  
"How about Arty then?" Holly replied sarcastically. Oops. He wasn't supposed to know about that one.  
"I'd rather you didn't" He said, then stopped for a pause. "On 3?"  
Artemis started counting out loud, and as soon as he hit 3, they ran for the door. Holly was naturally faster and more agile, but Artemis, being almost twice her size, could take greater strides. The further she ran, the less certain Holly was that there was actually a wall on the other side. That was until Artemis shouted "Now!". On that signal, Holly leapt into the air, leading with her shoulder. Both herself and Artemis hit the wall at the same time, the shockwave cracking the concrete. Light streamed through, momentarily blinding her as the reaction force made its way through her body. She could hear Artemis scream in agony as he hit the floor, so the first thing she did was go over to him, disregarding her own discomfort.  
"Artemis!" She cried out, moving closer to him. Now she could actually see him, and he looked in great pain.  
"I'm fine" He just about managed to get out.  
"You're not fine." Holly said, concern filling her voice. "Let me take a look at it."  
"No Holly, seriously, I'm fine." He said, standing up as if to make a point. "I'm just not as used to pain as some people are. Usually Butler is there to take it for me."  
Something in Artemis' voice told Holly that he was hiding how bad it really was, but she didn't want to push him. After all, his genius had just found them a way out of there.  
"Are you sure you'll be fine?" She asked, just to make sure.  
"Yes, I just misjudged the weak spot slightly" Came the reply, with the cool air of certainty that Holly was used to hearing. But she couldn't help but reply.  
"The great Artemis Fowl misjudged one of his calculations?" Holly laughed. Artemis just stood there.  
"That's not funny. I was working in the dark."  
"Of course that's your excuse" Holly said, rolling her eyes. She could continue the verbal sparring forever, but right now there were more important things to be doing. Namely, getting out of there.

Now that they can see each other, it's probably a good idea to describe our two trapped heroes. Artemis Fowl II, son of former criminal now legitimate businessman Artemis Fowl I, is by all accounts a genius. With his long, thin body and short, black hair, he looks every bit the criminal mastermind he used to be. Aged just 12, he successfully discovered the existence of 'fairies' living underground, and set about kidnapping one of them in order to extort them for gold. It just so happened that the fairy he decided to kidnap was Major (Formerly Captain) Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police, Recon division. Standing at something just over 3ft (In comparison to Artemis' 5ft 7"), with nut-brown skin and shoulder length Auburn hair, Major Short was quite the kick ass cop. Despite being kidnapped by Artemis, which is bound to put anyone off, the two eventually bonded and became friends. Mostly that happened whilst trying to save the world, both above and below ground, from a certain deranged pixie, which they'd been forced to do more than once. Other adventures included stealing back stolen fairy technology from an American businessman and saving a few Demons from their deteriorating time spell. Infact, during that particular adventure, Artemis and Holly had found themselves swapping eyes. Whilst Artemis used to have two blue eyes, and Holly two hazel ones, they now had one of each. They were literally a part of each other, even if Artemis had been mind wiped at one point during this time. So, perhaps it isn't surprising that the two of them found themselves locked in a dark room together.

"You know" Holly said, staring at Artemis. "We may have cracked up the concrete, but we're still not out of the room just yet."  
"I know" He replied. "I'm working on it."  
"Of course you are." Holly gave a mock yawn.  
"You know you could always help me."  
"I would if I actually had anything to help you with." Holly replied. "I could do with one of my LEP suits right about now."  
"I don't have anything on me either, remember?" Artemis said, thrusting his hands into his pockets. "Except these pieces of paper of course."  
"Yes, paper is going to break through this wall."  
Artemis gave Holly his mock look of disbelief. But, now they had light, he could actually read what's written on the paper.  
"Celestra-86. Celestra-89. Celestra-91." He looked straight at Holly with a deadpan expression. "I remember exactly what we were doing before we got here."  
"How did you remember everything from those 3 words?" Holly asked, rather surprised. "It took you recording your entire fairy history on a disc and then reciting it to yourself to remember me after Foaly mind wiped you."  
"That's because it was a sophisticated mind wipe. This was an amnesiac drug cocktail that I can break through easily enough with enough information. I already had suspicions from your flashbacks, but now I know for certain."  
"Go on then" Holly said, "Why are we here?"

 **Why are they there indeed? Well, that's what chapter 4 is there for.**


	4. The Celestra Crash

**So what exactly went on to get them both trapped? I suppose it's time we found out.**

 **SOME TIME EARLIER**

Holly felt ridiculous. It was near enough midnight, yet she was laying on some kind of sun lounger, wearing ridiculous yellow sunglasses. This was so not like Artemis Fowl.  
"Would you please remind me why we're sat like this?" She asked Artemis, who was in the exact same position next to her. "It was hard enough getting a visa to the surface, imagine what Foaly and Trouble will think of me if they found out I was laying out in the sun?"  
Artemis laughed to himself. "If Foaly's anywhere near as clever as he likes to believe he is, then he'll know exactly why you're here. In fact, it's likely the reason your visa was so readily pushed through."  
"Oh really? Not the influence of a certain mud boy?" Holly replied and Artemis scowled. He hated it when she called him 'mud-boy', but elfin habits certainly die hard. "Anyway, I'm still waiting for an answer."  
"Now now Holly, I don't want to give too much away. Let's just say, we're currently positioned at the perfect angle to witness an event that is going to happen in approximately 2 minutes. These... glasses... will help us observe the event. Unfortunately, Butler decided it would be a fun joke to design them yellow, then manufacture them so close to the time that I didn't have an opportunity to create new ones."  
Holly looked over her shoulder at Butler, who was stood behind them, wearing the very same sunglasses. If you looked closely, he almost looked like he was smiling. Well, as close to smiling as Butler was ever likely to get.  
"So what is this great event?"  
"6 years ago" Artemis began. 6 years ago he would have been approximately 12, yet he was still being the genius she knew him for. "6 years ago I discovered a natural event, which I called the 'Celestra Crash'. Granted, not the best name, but I was 12. It was the collision of 3 asteroids: Celestra-86, Celestra-89 and Celestra-91, which would be the largest outer-space body collision ever observed by humanity. I predicted that it would happen 6 years in the future, and now here we are. I thought it would nice to invite you along to witness it, seeing as you wouldn't be able to under the surface. Then, 3 months after I theorised the collision, I decided to locate where the epicentre of this collision would be. It didn't entirely surprise me that the very centre would be near Fowl Manor. It's most likely the reason I detected it."  
Holly, despite herself, couldn't help but be impressed. Most human scientists couldn't predict something 6 months away, let alone 6 years. Artemis really was in a league of his own.  
"It's time" He suddenly said, and Holly looked back towards the sky. She could see them, the 3 asteroids, circling each other. Then, without warning, they collided simultaneously. It was nothing like Holly had expected- instead of the giant atomic bomb type mushroom cloud explosions, the 3 asteroids seemed to obliterate each other in a shower of sparks and fire. The entire sky, which had been completely black, was now a sea of vibrant colours, namely reds and purples. Fragments began to sweep through the atmosphere, igniting it in a brilliant white glow. It was beautiful.  
"Here comes the next part" Artemis warned her. She had no idea what he meant, so just sat back and enjoyed the view. Suddenly, a giant shockwave hit Fowl Manor, almost throwing Holly out of her chair. It was as if they were having a category 5 hurricane and massive earthquake at the same time, the forces attempting to turn Holly inside out. Then, as soon as it had begun, it was over.  
"Foaly's going to be so jealous I got to watch this." Holly laughed to herself, then looked back at the sky.  
"Knowing him, he probably hacked my CCTV so he could watch it himself."  
"Doesn't beat the real thing" Holly reminded him.  
"Of course not. I've been waiting 6 years to see my prediction come true. Of course, I was right." Oh yes Artemis, of course you were right. You always are.  
"Artemis?" Holly asked, causing him to turn around. "Were any of the pieces of space rock supposed to rain on our heads?"  
"No" He admitted. "Why?"  
Holly merely pointed to the sky. A rather large chunk of asteroid was spiralling down to Earth, right above them. It shot straight overhead, leaving behind a fiery dust cloud, and impacted in the forest just behind the Manor.  
"Well" Artemis said, raising his eyebrows. "I suppose we should check it out."

Butler was apprehensive of Artemis wandering into the forest to say the least, but when Artemis explained that, should they be able to acquire a sample of the asteroid, they could run tests and potentially win more scientific awards, Butler agreed that they could go. Once Arty had his heart set on something, he was going to get it no matter what anybody said. Holly volunteered to go with them to try and make Butler feel better about it. If anything, it made him feel worse. And so the 3 of them set off into the forest, walking side by side. Nobody spoke- Butler was too concerned looking for anything that could harm them, Artemis was running off calculations in his head and Holly was wondering why the hell she'd agreed to go with them. To spend more time with Artemis, she thought, then instantly dismissed the idea. Soon enough, they reached the clearing, and the glowing asteroid sat right infront of them.  
"Something doesn't feel right about this Artemis" Butler warned, swivelling his head to survey the trees.  
"You know Butler, I think you might be right" Artemis replied, stopping at the thought. As it turned out, stopping was the worst thing Artemis could have done. It gave the sniper, camouflaged in the nearby treeline, enough time to get perfect aim. Butler was the first to go, naturally. Everyone could see he was the main threat. Holly instantly tried to shield, but it was already too late; She too had been shot with a knockout dart. That just left Artemis, who stood there with mock horror on his face, as if he hadn't already worked out what was going to happen to everyone as soon as he had entered the clearing. He looked directly into the trees, giving the sniper a glare that would put anybody off, and then he was down too.

"Well, that would explain a lot" Holly said once Artemis had finished explaining his account of what had happened to them. "It doesn't explain why we, or rather you, were targeted."  
"I have a theory about why" Artemis said, "But I can't be sure yet."  
"Care to share with the class?" Holly said sarcastically. Artemis just rolled his eyes.  
"Hang on a minute" Holly suddenly said. "Does this mean, once again, that we're both in trouble because of something you've done?"  
Artemis considered Holly's question for a few seconds. "Yes."  
Holly's answer to that was to walk over to Artemis and slap him across the face, not an easy task for someone 3ft tall.  
"I suppose I deserve that."  
"Oh yes, you certainly deserve that, **mud boy** "  
"Knowing you as I do, I assume I'm not going to have heard the last of this?"  
"No. Though I do have more questions."  
"So long as they don't terminate in you assaulting me for your own enjoyment."  
"I can't promise that" Holly said, a large smile on her face. "But I still can't help thinking, how did they know we'd be there?"  
"It was a setup. There was no asteroid in the forest. They knew that my curiosity would lead me there, and they took advantage of it." He looked Holly in the eyes. "When did I become this predictable?"  
"Believe me Artemis, everyone has their flaws. Even you. Besides, if you were really that predictable, you'd be dead by now."  
"Thank you Holly, that makes me feel better." And he genuinely seemed to mean it.  
"Next question" Holly continued. "Where's Butler?"  
"Somewhere more secure than here. I don't believe they thought it was a good idea to put someone so strong in a room so... not strong."  
"You mean weak?"  
"Only by Butler's standards."  
"OK, enough of the questions. I think it's about time we got out of here."  
"Of course" Artemis said, and promptly put his foot straight through the wall. It went straight through. As the rest of the surrounding concrete crumbled, there was now a gap big enough for them to step out of.  
"How did you even do that?" Holly asked, astounded.  
"Well, now I can actually see the weak spots."  
Holly shook her head playfully, then stepped out into the great unknown.

 **But what exactly is in the great unknown? What is outside their makeshift cage? Is it hazardous or dangerous? Once chapter 5 rolls around, that's exactly what we'll find out.**


	5. Nerve Centre

**I want to thank everyone that's read this so far. It's become weirdly popular (At least for my works of fiction), but you're all the reason I do this. Or, at least, you're the reason I decided to upload all of this stuff to the internet. I've already written 3 of these stories regardless.**

As they stepped out of their specially constructed cage, Holly and Artemis finally got to take in where they were being held captive. The entire building could only be described as futuristic, with sweeping red and white metallic corridors and several glass displays. Holly likened it to a certain human videogame she may or may not have played. Mainly because she was never supposed to have played that game in the first place, and therefore vividly remembered it.  
"Someone certainly has their own vision of the future" Artemis commented, and Holly agreed. This seemed like the pilot building for _Earth: 2050.  
_ "You know" Holly said, "I'd quite like to get my gear back."  
"As would I" Artemis agreed. "I wouldn't worry, it will all still be in this building complex."  
"How can you be sure about that?"  
"This is definitely a headquarters of some description, so this is the nerve centre. Also, I suspect they've already tried to decipher some of your technology and will have inevitably failed. They need us to help them, and there'd be no sense in making it harder for themselves by keeping things in different buildings."  
"I suppose that's sound reasoning" Holly said, wishing Artemis didn't make everything seem so obvious. Not everyone was a genius. "This still doesn't make a lot of sense though. Right now I should be either be on an operating table or in an interrogation room being tortured."  
"They need you because they need me." Artemis said, so flatly that you would think he was reading a newspaper advert. "Same reason I'm certain Butler is still alive. They need you as collateral, so that I will do as they ask. I don't, they hurt you, or similar. And they definitely need me."  
"This is sounding very much like our incident with Spiro." Holly churned out.  
"It is. But only if I'm right, which I always am. And this time it definitely won't be Spiro."  
"At least Spiro kept up a workforce. This place is empty."  
"We're a big deal to whoever owns this place. If things go bad for them, then the less people that know then the better for them. I suppose they've cleared everyone out because the boss is on his way. I have a feeling that, had we not escaped, we'd have been leaving that room soon anyway."  
"Great. Now let's go get our stuff."  
"Yes, let's proceed" Artemis said, but stopped Holly as soon as they had set off. "You're still wearing my suit."  
Holly couldn't help but laugh. She had completely forgotten about that. She looked down at herself; She looked ridiculous.  
"Do you want it back?" She asked, trying to keep a straight face.  
"You can keep it if you want" Artemis replied. "But you do look rather... odd."  
"Odd? So that's how you see me eh?" Holly teased.  
"I assure you it's 100% to do with the suit. You, as just yourself, are actually rather nice to look at."  
Holly blushed violently as soon as he had said it. It wasn't often Artemis Fowl complimented someone, especially not about her appearance. She found it almost unbelievable he actually liked the way she looked.  
"There you go" She said, handing back the suit jacket and bringing her cheeks back to their usual brown complexion. And then, without saying a word, the two were off down the corridor.

Holly had to admit that she was impressed by the building she was walking through. It wasn't often she paid compliments to human settlements, seeing as most of them practically copied the fairy buildings created much earlier, but this one was different. Very different. Even Artemis was saying a few nice things about it, amongst his usual petty criticisms. The only problem was that, no matter where they looked, they could not find their stuff.  
"This is ridiculous" Holly complained as they shut yet another door to an empty room.  
"Stop complaining my dear Holly" Artemis said, and she couldn't help but blush again. Why did he have to call her these things? "This is a process of elimination, there just so happens to be many doors to open."  
"Every single one so far has been empty." Holly commented bluntly. Artemis nodded slowly.  
"That is rather unusual, isn't it? You would expect, for the headquarters of a large corporation, that there would be lots of equipment and documents here. It looks like they've had a clear out in expectation of our arrival."  
"That doesn't help us find my gear." Holly responded as they approached yet another door. This one had a sign on it- 'Janitor's closet'. "Well, I doubt they're going to be in here."  
"Now my elfin friend, don't be so rash with your judgement. There's every chance our things will be in here."  
"One- do not call me your 'elfin friend'."  
"You call me 'Mud boy'" Artemis countered.  
"OK fair point, I'll allow it. But two- why would they keep so much technology in an unlocked janitors closet."  
"Well for one, it's the last place most people would look, as you've just proven. And I don't think they were expecting us to escape, hence no reason to keep the door locked. There's nobody here to steal it."  
"Fine then, mud-boy." Holly said, making sure to call him that just so she could see his face visibly cringe. "Why don't you do the honours."  
And so he did. Calmly, he turned the handle, and opened the door. There, sat on a table in the middle of the small room, was a box. That box contained all of their equipment.  
"So I was wrong." Holly said as they entered the room, looking at Artemis. He just shot her one of his trademark vampire smirks.

After sorting through everything in the box, Holly was relieved that all of her kit was still there. Now she had back her LEP suit, helmet, Neutrino 3000 blaster and her wings. There were other bits and pieces, but those were the most important.  
"I found your acorn" Artemis said, pulling a small acorn from this box.  
"Yes, because there's really somewhere I can bury it in this building." Holly replied in her usual sarcastic manner.  
"Accepted" Artemis said, throwing it back in the box. He was still rummaging through it for the rest of his stuff. "Oh look, I found a pair of those awful yellow sunglasses."  
Holly couldn't help but laugh as Artemis put them on. He took them back off almost straight away, hiding them in his suit pocket.  
"You know, you never actually told me what those sunglasses were for."  
"You're right, I didn't." He replied. "Think back to the asteroid collision. Any normal person would have just seen a large explosion and a rather blinding light, but you didn't just see that, did you?"  
"No"  
"That was because the sunglasses were fitted with filters for every waveband in the electromagnetic spectrum. All the colours and sparks and clouds were the result of interactions that could not be seen by the human, or elfin, eye. Oh, and of course the sunglasses part was to eliminate some of the glare from the explosion. There will be some people of lesser intellect wandering round for the next few days, wondering why they can't see anything."  
"Impressive. Though I expected nothing less from the great Artemis Fowl."  
"Of course not" He replied, clipping a small, black box to his belt.  
"Found everything you're looking for?" Holly asked, as Artemis was still going through the box.  
"No. And that is entirely the point. It means that I was right about why we were taken and what the people who took us were looking for. But, if I'm right, it will still be in the building. Just not in the box."  
"Does this mean we have to go and try to search again?"  
"No, there's no need to search. I doubt we would find it if we did."  
"Well, whilst you're complaining about not finding your device, I'm going to contact Foaly so that he knows that I am definitely still alive."  
"I wouldn't bother. It won't work" Artemis said. Holly glared at him, wanting an explanation. Artemis sighed.  
"I suppose it's time I told you what exactly my new invention is."

 **Because what would Artemis Fowl be without another invention to get them all in trouble? I'll tell you this- whatever it is, this won't be the last story you hear about it in.**


	6. The Arabian Legend

**June has been a landmark month for my fanfiction. I had over 100 views in one day on the 9th (The record is now 118 set on the 18th), then I had over 1000 views for all my fanfiction for the month of June, and now this story has broken the 1000 view mark for this month too. I am indebted to all of you. Anyway, on with the story, and just exactly what AF's new invention is...**

"A few months ago, a business acquaintance of mine came to me with a problem. It was a problem that intrigued me, and so I decided to try and find a solution to it. The problem was simple: How do I interrupt all signals going both into and out of a specific area. There are already many signal jammers in the world, but they tend to only work in specific boundaries- radio, or digital, or they only stop people communicating between a boundary. So I invented a device that I called the 'Wave Catcher'. Its purpose is simple. Every and any type of wave inside the designated boundary, digital or analogue, anywhere on the electromagnetic spectrum, even sound waves or seismic waves cannot enter or leave. You could drop an atomic bomb inside the boundary and the volume of radiation that escaped would be exactly zero. An earthquake could go off inside the limits and nobody outside would feel a thing. No communications can be sent or received, even between people inside the limits. There is of course one type of wave it does let in- that would be visible light, naturally. But other than that, it is the perfect device. In fact, the device itself is the size of a pea, and can have a range up to 50 miles in all directions, including under the ground. At least, it would if were fully functional. That's why they need me to unlock its full potential."  
"Oh great" Holly said, trying her best to try and understand at least some of what Artemis had just said. "Another one of Artemis Fowl's inventions. Did our adventure with Spiro not teach you anything about making these kind of devices."  
"I'm hurt. I've learned a lot from our 'adventures'. Besides, there's no fairy technology integrated into this device, and the range limitation means that it poses no threat to Haven. I didn't believe it was something I needed to run by you first. Regardless, I'm almost certain our wonderful Centaur friend Foaly already knew I was designing this, especially after some of the comments he made about me 'trying to block out the world'. I haven't even tried to market the device."  
"Then how did someone know that you had it?"  
"I also wondered that. The only other person who knew about the device was the person who asked me to create it. It would be fair to assume he likely told somebody about the device that he shouldn't have."  
"You really know how to make good friends, don't you?"  
"He wasn't a friend. You are a friend, Holly. He was merely an acquaintance I had done business with before."  
"So you mean that I can't send Foaly a message to let him know where we are?"  
"No. But I would like to see you try, just so I can be certain the device is here."  
Holly opened the radio channel on her helmet. It should have provided a direct link to the LEP's technical genius, a Centaur by the name of Foaly, but all she got was static. After shouting a few obscene things into her microphone, she realised that Artemis was right. Again.  
"So what do we do now?" She asked.  
"Do you have all of your equipment?"  
"Yes. Well, all of it that I need."  
"Then I propose we find a way out of here. They can keep the Wave Catcher; It's not much use to them at the moment and I have a failsafe that I can use to permanently disable it once I get back to Fowl Manor. Right now I would just quite like to go home."  
"Agreed." Holly said. "I'd quite like to get out of here too."

Artemis and Holly spent the next 20 minutes trying to find a way out. It was easy enough to know whether you had been down a corridor before, with each one sporting a different colour pattern, but none of them seemed to lead to a way out.  
"Last chance" Artemis said, once himself and Holly had made their way back to the 8 way junction that most of their attempts at escape had spawned from. "One corridor left. Either this leads to freedom, or we're forever trapped."  
"That's a nice way to think about it" Holly remarked. They set off slowly, Holly leading with her Neutrino 3000 held firmly in both hands. Luckily for them, the corridor was a short one; As they emerged, it led them to a grand opening. Carefully, they made their way through the opening, and onto a large balcony.  
"Oh wow..." Holly said, her mouth hanging open in amazement. What stood before her was the most incredible scenery she'd ever witnessed on the surface. Aside from the fact it was massive, the floor beneath the balcony glowed an electric blue and silver. Light cascaded down through the quartz skylights and crystalline windows. Purple veins snaked up the walls towards large electronic displays. Outside, everything was sand white, the high, full moon illuminating the jet black sky, with the stars peppering the rest of the dark curtain that constituted outer space. If their previous surroundings had been _Earth: 2050_ , then this was _Earth: 3050._  
"Well, this is a rather dramatic setting." Artemis said, his usual critical nature coming naturally to him. "The colours used for effect don't even match properly."  
Holly just smiled at him; Despite what Artemis was saying, she could tell that even he was impressed by the futuristic vision laid before him.  
"So this is our way out." She said, spying a set of electronic double doors in one corner.  
"It could well be. I suppose you'd like to know where we are?"  
"You know where this place is?"  
"Oh yes. Every businessman worth something to the world knows what this place is. But they only ever see it in their dreams, because this place was supposed to be a myth- and not one of the myths that can be explained by the presence of fairies. This place is known as _The Arabian Legend_ in the world of business, and for good reason. It has never, ever been found. No satellite, no camera and no person has ever set eyes on this building, and yet here we are."  
"Where exactly is 'here'?"  
"Holly Short, I present to you One World Industries Head Technological Centre, Dubai."  
"Dubai!? We're in Dubai?!" Holly almost screeched in surprise. Dubai was certainly a lot further from Fowl Manor, and even Ireland, than she had hoped they would be.  
"Yes, Dubai" Said a calm voice from behind them. Holly could feel the cold, hard metal barrel of a gun pressed into the back of her head. She would have loved to turn around and kick their ass, but she didn't know how many there were. "It's nice to see someone has actually done their research."

 **These chapters are getting shorter and shorter, aren't they? When I wrote this there were no chapters involved, but I decided I couldn't upload a 15K word story in one go, so this is the price we pay. I actually think the next chapter, where we finally meet the big bad of the story, is around 100 words longer. And, because I'm evil, you're going to have to wait for it. Mwahahaha.**


	7. Boss Man

**I haven't had a particularly fun week for a variety of reasons, but one good thing to come out of it is that I broke 500 visitors for June. Yippee. Anyway, enjoy the reveal of the big bad, and all the other wonderful stuff that comes after it.**

The mystery man ordered Holly and Artemis to turn around. When she did, Holly finally got to see the people responsible. There were 3 of them on the balcony: The first, who looked like he was in charge, was a tall man of possibly Latin descent, with tanned skin and short black hair. He wore a dark blue suit, though it was nowhere near as smart as the one Artemis had on. His hands sported several gold rings, and he had at least 1 gold tooth. The two people flanking him were certainly bodyguards, almost mini Butlers. Almost, in the sense that they were nowhere near as intimidating, despite the handguns they had trained on the 2 captives. Holly quickly hid her Neutrino 3000 in her waistband so it wouldn't be seen.  
"Eduardo Ortega" The man introduced himself, flashing a mock smile. "It would seem one of you knows where you are, but for the purpose of the one that doesn't, I shall explain." He looked at Holly, who couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in his gaze. "7 years ago I set up One World Industries, with one aim- to be the best in the world. So I built this place, and created a legend that made me famous without even selling one product."  
"How admirable" Artemis spat. "One day someone will stumble upon this place, and it won't be a legend anymore."  
"You would think so" Eduardo said, "But in 7 years, nobody has ever seen it. Well, nobody that's lived that is."  
Holly felt physically sick. This man was a murderer. He would probably kill them too.  
"I've seen many weird sights in my years" Ortega carried on, still looking at Holly, "But none quite as weird as you. Then again, I found you with Artemis Fowl, I wouldn't be surprised if you were one of his lab experiments."  
"I would watch the way you speak about my friend, Ortega" Artemis warned, but Eduardo brushed it off.  
"Your anatomy is certainly humanoid, but not Human entirely, especially not your ears." His eyes sparkled. "Are you by any chance an alien?"  
Holly couldn't help but laugh. Alien? This guy really wasn't as clever as he'd like to believe. Unfortunately, Eduardo Ortega did not take kindly to Holly's laugh, and tried to slap her around the face. For Holly, what happened next was extraordinary. Artemis practically jumped on Ortega, knocking him off balance enough that his attempted assault on Holly missed completely. Artemis was no match though, and Ortega easily threw him off.  
"Do not laugh at me alien!" He said sternly, back towards Holly. Artemis started towards him again, but the stopped when this time the bodyguards raised their guns.  
"How dare you touch my friend" Artemis shot at Eduardo, his eyes cold and glassed over, his voice deadly serious. Holly couldn't help but think back to the 12 year old Artemis Fowl that had kidnapped her. "If you ever dare to touch her again, I will make you feel a world of pain so bad that you'll wish that you'd never heard the name Artemis Fowl II."  
This time it was Eduardo that laughed, obviously not taking in the seriousness of Artemis' threat. To Holly, the way Artemis was trying to protect her, it was actually rather cute. Her heart fluttered as she realised that he would genuinely go out of his way to protect her. Holly mentally vowed that, should Artemis not be the architect of Eduardo Ortega's demise, then she would do it herself. She couldn't wait to see him in handcuffs.  
"I'm tired of the games" Eduardo said, changing the subject. "I want to talk about your device, Artemis. The wave catcher is an impressive device. I would not have known about it had a colleague of mine not let it slip during an... interrogation. He was most useful in helping me acquire this device."  
"You disgust me" Holly managed to spit out. Eduardo certainly took notice of it.  
"Our friend speaks English? Excellent. Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, the Wave Catcher." He turned back to Artemis. "I'm going to make this simple. I know this device can do more than just block radio communications. I know it has a bigger range than just this building. I know that only you can unlock it. So here's your options: Either you unlock your device and surrender it to me, or your alien friend will suffer, greatly."  
"Elf" Holly muttered under her breath. She was not a frickin' alien.  
"Fine" Artemis said coolly. "Take me to your laboratory." And as Holly looked at him, she recognised the expression on his face. It was the expression of a mud boy with a plan.

They walked for a while. Artemis spent most of the time watching the surroundings. Holly wondered what his plan was; obviously, he couldn't tell her, as the two bozos Ortega called bodyguards would overhear. She needed to something, so why not try and engage in conversation by asking a question she already knew the answer to?  
"How did you know you would find us in the woods?"  
Ortega turned to face her. He seemed to like it when she spoke. "It was quite simple in the end. Everyone knew about the Celestra Crash. Everyone knew Artemis Fowl would be watching. We needed a distraction to get him and his bodyguard away from Fowl Manor, so we set up a series of projectors in the woods and positioned a sniper. Easy. Now, we're here" He said, leading them off towards a set of glass doors. This was the first time he'd moved ahead of Artemis and Holly.  
"Holly" Artemis whispered. "I want you to turn on every communication channel you have. Once you've done it, I want you to hit my back left pocket, hard."  
Odd request, Holly thought, but almost certainly part of the plan. So, just as Eduardo opened the door to the lab, Holly began broadcasting from her helmet radio, turned on her emergency locator and signal booster. Then, with all her strength, slapped Artemis' back left pocket. To any random onlooker, it would look like she'd just randomly slapped his ass, but Holly knew there was something in that pocket, which compressed on contact. Suddenly, both bodyguards and Eduardo screamed out in pain, their hands going to their ears. They tried desperately to rip out their ear pieces; Holly could even hear the high pitched screech from where she stood. Knowing this was her one opportunity, she pulled out her Neutrino, and fired 3 shots at the writhing enemies, flooring them. Then she grabbed Artemis and ran.

"The shots aren't going to stop them for long, the setting on my gun wasn't set very high" Holly told Artemis as they rushed back into the main plaza. He simply nodded as they rushed down the stairs and towards the door. "The door won't open"  
"Of course not" Artemis said. "Ortega wouldn't be so stupid as to give us an easy exit."  
"Well then what do we do?"  
"Try blasting through the window" Artemis suggested. Holly turned her Neutrino up to full blast, and fired 5 shots towards the transparent barrier. Each one bounced straight off.  
"Well that idea is out of the window" Holly said. Artemis laughed shallowly at her poorly disguised pun. "It looks like we don't have a way out."  
"In which case, I propose we go on the offensive."  
Holly was almost shocked by that. Almost. "Artemis Fowl promoting violence? I've seen it all now."  
"Laugh all you want, but we have to get out of here somehow. And, considering that Butler is not available, that almost makes _you_ my bodyguard. Besides, who said anything about violence?"  
"You mean like that trick you pulled back by the labs? What even was that?" Holly asked.  
Artemis smirked, showing off his signature vampire smile. "I thought you'd never ask." Of course, any opportunity for Artemis Fowl show off his genius. "It's just one of the many features of the Wave Catcher that Eduardo Ortega did not know about. When the Wave Catcher 'catches' a signal, it stores that signal in its membrane. I simply took all of the energy from the signals you were broadcasting, and fed it straight into their earpieces."  
"How come I didn't receive any of it?"  
"I didn't programme the device for fairy specifications. Like I said, this was never supposed to involve you guys."  
"It's nice to see how that turned out." Holly joked. "I take it you have a plan for our 'proposed offensive'?"  
"Oh of course my dear Holly, I always have a plan."

 **Chants: PLAN PLAN PLAN (I'm not great at making plans, don't get your hopes up. Or...)**


	8. Point Of No Return

**I continue to be amazed by the number of views this is getting, but it's led to something I want to get off my chest. If you just care about the story, you can ignore the rest of this bit. Having this many views has done something to this story uploading none of my other stories has: It's made me nervous. I am almost too scared to upload more of this story, and the stories that will follow. Before I got reviews, I would always wait for the day I would finally get one, but now I dread the prospect of them, because I'm worried that somebody is going to come in and point out each and every failing.**

 **I want to make something clear: I wrote this story for fun. I already know there are so many plot holes you could probably drive about 4 buses through this story, I know that there are parts of this that don't make much sense and I definitely know that the characters here hardly resemble the actual characters from the story. I only ever uploaded them to here for fun, with the expectation nobody would read them. Now that I know people actually do, I'm feeling the pressure, and I'm sorry to those people who think this isn't good enough. For those that are so complimentary, I thank you.**

 **Anyway, I've already rambled for too long. Enjoy the chapter, where things really start to get dramatic.**

Artemis had explained the plan to Holly as they were starting to set everything up. It was a fairly simple plan- in essence, it was a hide and wait. Artemis had set himself up in his own version of a sniper's nest, minus the sniper. He did, however, still have the yellow sunglasses, which allowed him to see both thermal and X-ray versions of the surroundings. Holly had been apprehensive of allowing Artemis up there by himself. She didn't know what she'd do if he got hurt and she wasn't there to stop them.  
"We have movement." Artemis said into his earpiece. Despite not being able to communicate to anybody outside of the building, Ortega had not yet unlocked the Wave Catcher's ability to stop transmissions within the boundary. If he had, then Artemis' plan would not have worked.  
"Oh good, movement" Holly transmitted back. "Where?"  
"Down the main corridor as would be expected. It's the two bodyguards."  
"Not Ortega?"  
"No" Artemis said, "No sign of Eduardo Ortega. Just his two associates."  
Holly didn't need Artemis now, she could hear the footsteps of the two guards approaching her. She did her best to blend into the surroundings, hiding stealthily behind a plant pot. The two bodyguards then appeared out from the opening, but neither of them saw her. When they split off, one in each direction along the balcony, Holly made her move. Sneaking out, she tailed behind the first bodyguard. When he stopped to turn back around, Holly hit him with a full blast of her Neutrino 3000. The setting wasn't quite high enough to kill him, but would certainly leave him unconscious for a good length of time. Unfortunately, it was also enough to alert the other guard.  
"Holly, the other one has noticed you." Artemis commented through his radio.  
"Thank you Artemis, that was most observant of you." She shot back. She could see him across from her, raising his gun. "I'm going to have to shield."  
"Holly..." Artemis warned. Shielding was another of an elf's magical powers. Well, it wasn't shielding so much as it was vibrating at an inordinate frequency, but it had the effect that you couldn't see the shielding fairy. The problem with it was that it took a lot of magic to work, and Holly was pretty much running on empty.  
"I have no choice" she said, and promptly turned invisible. The look on the guard's face was priceless, as he saw his target disappear right infront of his very eyes. But it didn't last long; Holly putting two blasts in his chest ensured that his face was devoid of any expression whatsoever as soon as he hit the floor.  
"Good shot" Artemis commented.  
"Thank you" Holly replied, scanning the room. It looked empty enough, but then she spotted something in the corner of her vision. "Artemis, I think I've found something, east corner of the balcony."  
"Good spot. You've just found Eduardo Ortega. He has a machine gun."

Artemis' last words echoed in Holly's ear just as the first shots rang out. Eduardo Ortega was rounding the corner, intent on shooting our favourite elf. Holly retaliated, firing off a few rounds of her Neutrino. As Eduardo went to take cover, Holly turned on her wings, and flew straight over the guard railing down to the plaza below. Eduardo attempted to return fire, but Holly was too agile for him to get a shot on target. She took cover behind one of the pillars holding up the balcony, where Eduardo couldn't hit her.  
"Artemis! What part of your plan involved getting shot at by a crazy Mexican businessman?"  
"Colombian, actually. And think of him as more of a drug baron than an actual businessman."  
"You couldn't have told me that before?"  
"Didn't feel it was necessary." He took a pause. "Don't worry Holly, I will get us out."  
"You better" Holly said, but then she saw Artemis remove himself from his sniper's nest, and walk along the plaza. "Artemis Fowl, are you crazy!?"  
Artemis, naturally, ignored Holly's concerns, and walked straight into Eduardo's line of vision.  
"Eduardo" He began, getting the crazed Colombian's attention. He stopped firing towards Holly, and took aim at Artemis instead. "I'm the one that you want. Let Holly go and I'll undo the restrictions on the Wave Catcher."  
Ortega laughed, a loud belly laugh that echoed across the room. "I cannot let her go. She has already seen too much."  
Artemis sighed dramatically. "Of course, you were never intending on keeping either of us alive I know, I just wanted this opportunity to allow Holly to move to better cover, though I see she did not catch on to that. You still need my assistance for unlocking the wave catcher, however."  
"No, I was going to get you to open up your device and then have you shot. But, right now, you have caused me so much trouble I'm just going to kill you both and cut my losses!"  
Even Artemis, who liked to put on a show infront of his enemies, wasn't stupid enough to stay there a moment longer. He joined Holly by diving behind the pillar, just as Ortega once again opened fire.  
"The pillar is becoming weak. We're going to have to move cover." Artemis said, and Holly agreed. The pillar was taking some extensive damage.  
"On 3?" Holly asked, and Artemis nodded. They internally counted down in their heads. Eduardo stopped to reload, dropping the magazine in his clumsy rage. They took that as their opportunity to run. Artemis took the lead, making sure he had his body infront of Holly's at all times, though Holly didn't feel that was strictly necessary. Eduardo, determined, finally loaded in another magazine, and opened fire on the two runners. Bullets skitted across the floor, but none met their mark. A large, glass display shattered infront of them, but they ran through the debris, and finally found cover.  
"This man is insane" Artemis said, his face having somehow turned even whiter than it usually was.  
"You don't need to tell me that" Holly agreed. "By the way, you didn't need to put yourself in the line of fire like that for me, I'm a big elf and I can look after myself."  
The number of words in that sentence that contained 'elf' caused Artemis to let out a small grin. "I was just protecting my best friend. I don't want you to get hurt because of me."  
Holly felt her heart skip a beat again. There was something in the way he said his words, that he truly cared for her.  
"Holly, your face has gone red" Artemis commented, and Holly blushed even more dramatically.  
"Just get us out of here."  
"I will. How much magic do you have left?"  
"Not much, why?"  
"How long can you shield for?"  
"Couple of minutes max."  
"OK. Here's the plan. I'm going to distract Eduardo- he's delusional at the moment, so it shouldn't be too difficult." Artemis pulled a couple of silver discs out of his pocket and started twirling them, being careful to make sure they never touched. "Whilst he's enjoying the light show, you'll sneak up and take him down. Are you OK with this?"  
"Artemis, we need to get out of here. Right now I'm up for almost anything."  
"OK, then let's do it."

Holly wasn't going to activate her shield yet. She only had such a limited amount of magic that she'd use it as little as possible. The first part was up to Artemis.  
"Eduardo!" He called out. Ever the dramatist was Artemis Fowl. "This is ridiculous. We can still come to an arrangement." He slowly moved out from his cover to face Eduardo, who had stopped firing and moved onto the elevated walkway.  
"No, Fowl. You have ruined me. You have ruined everything I worked for."  
"You did most of that yourself."  
"Enough of the games, Fowl. I am going to end you and then your friend."  
"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." Artemis said, and threw the two discs into the centre of the floor. As soon as they made contact, they exploded in a brilliant white light. Eduardo, blinded, stumbled backwards, holding his eyes. Luckily for Holly, both her and Artemis were wearing the protective yellow sunglasses, which had proven itself once again.  
"Time to make my move" Holly said to herself, and began shielding. Although she could feel her energy depleting, she flew up to the balcony, and ran towards Eduardo. He stumbled around, fighting off his temporary blindness. Holly stopped, and took aim. Just as she was steadying herself, she felt her magic hit zero.  
"D'Arvit!" She swore. Eduardo, with his eyes slowly regaining their sight, noticed Holly appear right infront of him, and completely freaked out. He kicked out in Holly's direction, connecting with her gun hand and sending the Neutrino 3000 spiralling over the edge. She attempted to fly over him, but he grabbed her leg mid-flight and threw her against the railing, smashing he motorised wings. Now with no chance but to retaliate, Holly punched him hard in the Solar Plexus, causing him to double over in pain. Holly went to add another blow, but Ortega swiped her off her feet and grabbed his machine gun. He went to fire at her, but she grabbed his gun and forced him backwards against the guard rail. In their struggle, Eduardo accidentally fired a few shots; Unbeknownst to Holly, one of those stray bullets hit Artemis in the top of his shoulder, sending him spiralling to the floor.  
"Stop this Eduardo" Holly said, though she didn't know why. It wasn't like he was going to listen. "Nobody needs to get hurt."  
"Never" He replied, and threw Holly off him. She went straight back at him, shoving him hard against the railings. He tried to balance himself, but the railing couldn't take the weight. It shattered, and Eduardo Ortega was left falling to the floor. Holly could hear his neck snap as he hit the ground. For a moment, Holly was left in shock; She had killed someone. Sure, he was trying to kill her, but she had actually killed him. Then she spotted Artemis laying on the floor, and her expression changed completely.

 ***Insert dramatic cliffhanger gasp here***


	9. One Lives, One Dies

**This chapter is very short, but I hope it has the desired effect...**

 **As a side note, I got my first warning for the content of this story today, so if I or this story disappears, you know why.**

Holly may have owned relatively short legs, but that did not stop her running down the balcony's staircase at a speed that most Pixies would envy. Within seconds, she was by Artemis' side.  
"Artemis!" She shouted to him, trying to get his attention. "Artemis, what happened?"  
"Stray bullet" He managed to cough out. He still wasn't getting up. "Clipped the top of my shoulder."  
Holly looked at Artemis' shoulder. There was a bruise marking pattern where the bullet had ricocheted off the top of his shoulder blade, but it had only torn the fabric off his clothes, not even punctured the skin. It shouldn't be enough to send Artemis to the floor, and then keep him there.  
"The bullet isn't the problem here" Artemis said, almost like he was reading Holly's mind.  
"Then what is?"  
"It doesn't matter Holly, really." Artemis said. If he didn't look in such a bad way, Holly would have hit him for being so stupidly stubborn. She was as scared as she had ever been that something was badly wrong. Artemis' face was ash white, his breathing was shallow and the confidence that usually radiated from him had almost disappeared.  
"We stopped him. We did it" He whispered, but there was a certain finality in his voice that made Holly even more uncomfortable.  
"We did. Your plan worked, as they always do."  
Artemis gave out a small, hollow laugh. Holly almost couldn't stand seeing him like this.  
"Artemis" she said as seriously as she could without her voice cracking, "You are not well. Do not lie to me and pretend that you're fine because I swear to Frond that I am not going to sit here and watch you get worse."  
Holly could see Artemis think it over, the gears in his brain working to decide a response. Eventually, he started to try and take off his shirt, but he was too weak, so Holly gave him a helping hand. But as soon as it was off, Holly had to divert her gaze in both shock and horror at what she saw. The skin around Artemis' back and right shoulder, whilst as white as his face, had violent red rivers of blood running through his body, the area littered with bright purple bruises.  
"Oh Frond no" Holly whispered, the situation dawning on her. "Artemis, what the hell did you do?"  
He sighed as Holly said those words. "Whilst you were unconscious inside the dark room, I decided my time would be most efficiently served trying to actuate the weak spot I had found in the wall. In my efforts to exaggerate the weakness, I fractured my right shoulder blade. The fracture, I deduced, caused a small piece of bone to puncture one of my arteries, but it had self sealed itself. However, when I was knocked over by the bullet's momentum, the bone fragment was dislodged and the pressure released. I've been rapidly internally bleeding out ever since." Artemis looked Holly right in her mismatched eyes. "At the current rate of internal bleeding, I'm going to be dead in 2 minutes and 27 seconds. Holly, I don't believe I can stop this one. I believe it's too late."

"No" Were the first words out of Holly's mouth. Artemis was not going to lose this fight. "Heal" She whispered, but nothing happened. Of course nothing happened, she was out of magic. "Heal!" She hissed out, becoming more and more desperate. Artemis reached out an arm, and cautiously stroked Holly's face.  
"Me and you both know that's not going to work Holly."  
"I'm not losing you."  
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. I've already lost too much blood, my vital organs are beginning to shut down-"  
"Artemis stop, please" Holly begged, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. One of them landed on Artemis' face, and Holly felt the need to wipe it off. Artemis responded by painfully laughing, but then his eyelids began to flutter and his back twitched as the inevitable process of losing consciousness set in.  
"No, Artemis, no." Holly sobbed. "You're better than this, I know you are. I'm not letting you go."  
"Oh my dearest, dearest Holly." Artemis replied, his words staggered on each breath, until his eyes opened wide in one final moment of clarity.

"I'm already gone."


	10. One Lives, One Dies Pt 2

**Artemis may be dead, but this is far from over...**

Holly had meant what she had said, she was not letting him go. As she looked down at the lifeless, unresponsive body next to her, she became determined that Artemis Fowl would not die today. Well, technically he already had, but it would not be permanent. She racked her brain for ideas, anything that could possibly work, but Artemis was the genius in their partnership. He was always the one that made the plans. No, no excuses, she had to come up with a plan by herself. Cursing to herself loudly, Holly thought back to everything that she had seen and done whilst in Dubai. The was nothing in the dark room that would help, nothing in the corridors... That was it. That was what she needed. Without giving it a second thought, she bolted back up the stairs, along the balcony, and into the corridor system. Going as fast as was physically possible, Holly ran right to the end of the main corridor, and down to the janitor's closet. She didn't even stop to open the door, instead opting to barge her way through.  
"It has to be here" She muttered to herself, dumping what was left in the box on the floor. There, shining in the artificial light, was her one and only hope. The acorn. At this point, it's probably a good idea to explain the importance of the acorn to a fairy. When a fairy, such as Holly, is running low on magic, they must complete something known as 'The Ritual'. To make what could be a very long explanation a lot shorter, in essence a fairy must find an acorn near to an oak tree, then bury said acorn in the ground. Preferably there'll also be a full moon. Holly had the acorn, now she needed somewhere to bury it. Just as fast as she had ran in, she ran straight back down the corridor. Her memory working overtime, Holly tried to think of somewhere, anywhere she could plant the acorn. Images flashed before her as she ran through every available memory, until she found the only one suitable. It had to work; Artemis was depending on her, whether he liked it or not.  
"You are so going to owe me after this, Artemis Fowl" Holly said to herself, though she didn't mean it. If he made it out alive, she might just never let him go. As she made her way back onto the balcony, she made a line straight for the one remaining plant pot. For this to work she had to be close, so she dragged it next to Artemis' body. Holly took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pushed the acorn into the soil.

Holly could feel it. She could feel the power returning to her. There was a full moon outside, which meant that she could regenerate to her full magical ability. Every nerve ending in her body buzzed with electricity, her senses came alive. She could taste every sound, see every touch and feel every possibility in the world. This was usual for a fairy, of course, especially one as drained as Holly was, but that extra determination sparked something in her brain and boosted the magic even further. Holly could feel the power flowing through her, and in all of it, she had just one thought. Heal Artemis Fowl. That thought was all the trigger her body needed; all the magic she had been building shot out of her body, and straight into Artemis', enveloping him in a cocoon of pure blue energy. The transfer went on for at least 10 minutes- at one point, it even lifted him off the ground. Eventually, Holly was, once again, out of magic, and she stopped. Exhausted, she dropped to the floor, looking at Artemis' body in hope. But he was just laying there, so still. Holly couldn't bear to think that it hadn't been enough.

And then Artemis Fowl bolted upright, very much alive.

Holly almost didn't believe it at first, it was almost surreal. But as soon as she realised that it had worked, and that her favourite mud boy wasn't dead, she couldn't help but throw her arms round him, embracing him as tightly as she dared.  
"So" Artemis began, calm and calculated. "I'm not dead." If Holly didn't know Artemis better, he almost sounded like he was disappointed that he'd wrongly predicted he was going to die. Actually knowing Artemis, he probably was.  
"I feel good. I shouldn't feel this good after being brought back to life. Unless..." He arched an eyebrow at Holly, who tried to look at him with innocent eyes. "... Unless you used your magic to bring me back to life. Except you had no magic left."  
"Trade secret"  
"Holly Short" Artemis laughed, "Always has a secret up her sleeve. Using magic to revive me is however somewhat cheating the system, I do believe."  
Artemis' laugh did an interesting thing to Holly. It made her cry. Because, deep down, despite her plan and her ideas, there was a small part of her that knew she might never have heard that laugh again. Artemis noticed this, and wrapped his arms around her.  
"It's OK Holly, let it out" He said, and so she did, for the next 15 minutes, until finally she was all out of tears and just happy that he wasn't judging her, not that he ever did.  
"You know" She said, just about audible in the silent room, "I really thought that I was going to lose you. I don't know what I would have done if I really had lost you."  
"You would have found a way. You always manage to find a way."  
"I don't know Arty, after both my parents and Root, I'm not sure if I could cope with losing anyone else."  
"But you didn't, and that is the main thing. We defeated Eduardo Ortega, saved the world from my device, and we both made it out alive." Artemis' voice wavered as he said the last part, which was about as far from himself as you could get.  
"Artemis" Holly said, "What is it?" But he didn't respond. He just looked at her, like he wanted to tell her but didn't think he should. Considering everything he had just been through, she didn't press it, not yet. She released the grip she had on Artemis, and they just laid next to each other, enjoying each other's silence.  
"You're not the only person who thought they'd lost someone today" Artemis suddenly blurted out, and Holly darted her eyes towards him. His expression softened when he realised Holly wasn't going to hit him, but internally Holly was trying to figure out what he meant. She was the only person he'd been with today, but she hadn't... had she? Holly looked back at Artemis, and signalled him to continue.  
"I wasn't entirely truthful to you earlier. In the room, when you had the allergic reaction to Ortega's knockout drug, it was actually worse than I led you to believe. You died."  
Holly struggled to take that last part in, but the look on Artemis' face told her he was deadly serious.  
"Naturally, your magic attempted to heal you, but I could tell it wasn't going to be enough. In fact, I could barely watch. And then when it finished, you were so still, I didn't know what to do. So I attempted to cheat the system myself. I used my own magic to heal you."  
Artemis, despite being mostly human- owning one of Holly's eyes meant he was at least a little bit elfin- had stolen some magic of his own when he had travelled through time and space to the demon island of Hybras, which, at the time, had been stuck in limbo. Holly was under the impression that Artemis had used all of it up when they had travelled back to the present day. Obviously not.  
"But even after I had done that" He continued, "You were still unresponsive. In hindsight, something I would usually claim as useless, it was perhaps not advisable to allow my emotions to override the more critical sensors of my brain. I took all of my unwanted emotions out on the wall. Somehow I managed to hit it so much that it caved slightly; That's how I fractured my shoulder." He looked up to the sky, tears forming in his eyes. "And then you started breathing again, and I realised, in that moment, as irrational as it is, how much I couldn't stand to lose you."  
For Holly, following Artemis' explanation had been surreal to say the least, but when she saw Artemis, the king of keeping a neutral emotional balance, was going to cry, she knew she had to stop him. Because if he cried, she was going to cry too, and she didn't want to cry again so soon. So she did the one thing that she could think of, the one thing she'd been meaning to do for a while now.

She leaned in without a word, and she kissed him.

 ***GASPS***

 **Also something I should point out (Which was pointed out to me), which I thought I already had (But after looking back through, obviously not) is that this story is set after book 5 in the series (Lost Colony). There were a few reasons I chose that point in the timeline, but there we go. Now you all know. I'll stick this in at the beginning too for anyone new that comes through.**


	11. A Morning Of Stars

**We're almost at the end. This is the penultimate chapter.**

Holly didn't know how Artemis would react. She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter, but she knew that it did. That was why she hadn't done it sooner, because she had been afraid that he would reject her. So when he grabbed her waist and pulled her even closer, Holly could feel the relief flood her body. Her eyes lit up various colours as they finally broke off from each other.  
"I thought you didn't have any magic left?" Holly questioned Artemis.  
"It would seem your act of bringing me back to life has replenished my magic. That's not the only thing it's done" He replied, and then without a moment's hesitation, he pulled Holly back in and kissed her again, harder than last time. Holly felt like she could set fire to an ocean. She knew it was possible, she'd accidentally set fire to one before chasing a Sprite that had somehow escaped to the surface and stolen a flamethrower. Soon, far too soon, they had to break off for air.  
"Wow" Holly said. "That was..."  
"Incredible?" Artemis finished for her. For a moment, they were locked, staring into each other's mismatched eyes. Then Artemis looked away.  
"Are you sure this is what you want? I don't want to have just done something you're uncomfortable with" He said, and Holly couldn't help but laugh out loud. Artemis Fowl had actually tried to apologise for kissing her. He may have had a rather poor excuse for morals, but he was forever the gentleman. But that didn't bother Holly, she knew him too well. She carefully grabbed his chin, and turned his face so that she could look him dead in the eyes.  
"Artemis Fowl, I love you." Well, that certainly shut him up.  
"Holly Short" He replied after taking a few seconds to mentally decide on an answer. "Love is irrational, fairly useless in a practical sense and not something I have experienced for anybody other my family. I believe what I'm trying to say is, I love you too." Holly almost fainted on the spot. But, once she'd regained her senses, she could tell that he was apprehensive.  
"What is it?" She asked. "Go on, tell me."  
"Would we really be able to work?" he replied. She had wondered the same thing many times before. "I'm a human and you're an elf."  
"We're 100% compatible, you told me that yourself."  
"True. But there's also our height difference, our age difference, and how others will perceive you, especially at the LEP. I just want to make sure you're sure about this."  
Holly had never been so sure of anything in her life. But she didn't have the words to convey this, so she did the only thing she could. She kissed him again, and again, and again. By the end of it, she was a giggling mess.  
"You know" Artemis suggested, "We should probably get some sleep."  
Holly, reluctantly, agreed. "So long as you don't leave my side."  
"I wouldn't dream of it. Now my dear Holly, may I suggest we sleep outside, under the stars. It is a lovely night."  
"Yes" Holly said, and Artemis led her to the door. He pulled out a key card, swiped it in the reader, and the doors opened. Holly raised her eyebrows at him.  
"I lifted it from the now deceased Eduardo Ortega. It's not like he needs it anymore."  
Then he led her outside. It was a perfect night, the clear sky streaked with stars, the full moon casting light in the shadows. It wasn't so hot that it was uncomfortable, but still warm enough.  
"The perfect night" Holly said as she laid down on the floor next to Artemis. She didn't even try to fight the tiredness as she rested her head on Artemis' chest. Within seconds, she was asleep.

When Holly woke up, it was light. She could feel the Arabic heat prickle on her skin, despite the fact the sun was still low in the sky. As she turned her head, she almost feared everything had been some sort of dream. Of course, there were some parts she would happily forget, but not the end result. But he was still there, stood over her like a protective angel.  
"It's nice to see you're awake" He began with. "I hope you had a good night's sleep."  
"I'm hungry, I'm thirsty and I have a headache. Otherwise I'm great."  
"Well" Artemis said, reaching behind him. It was only then that Holly saw the floor was now littered with items. "I can potentially remedy the first two problems. Orange Juice?"  
"Dare I ask where all of this came from?" Holly asked tentatively.  
"I don't really sleep" Artemis started his explanation. "So last night I decided to explore. I never really got to have a good look around before. Anyway, whilst I was exploring, I found a hidden staircase in the back corner-" He pointed to the other side of the room "-that led to a functional underground living setup. Not only did I find a fully working kitchen, but I also found 2.5 million Euros worth of Cocaine, enough plastic explosive to level an area the size of Qatar, a 108 inch flat screen TV, a massage parlour, enough automatic weapons to support a small army and at least 6 million Euros worth of gold. I'm starting to believe this level was not empty for us specifically, but is just empty as a cosmetic decoy."  
"Basically, you found Eduardo Ortega's secret lair?" Holly said, shortening Artemis' summary into a single sentence.  
"Yes" Artemis concurred. "Now eat something" He continued, throwing Holly a couple of bananas. Never had she been so happy to see fruit.

The combination of bananas and orange juice seemed to be working. But as she regained her complex brain functions, a sudden thought struck her;  
"You know, now that we're free, we should really let everyone know we're safe. And inform them about Ortega..."  
"Ah, always the cop."  
"Why, do you want to us run away?" Holly said sarcastically. "Live our life free of the LEP chasing your every move. I have to say, Dubai does look like a nice place."  
"You wound me with your sarcasm." He retorted. "Besides, I have already activated your emergency transponder. Foaly knows exactly where we are now I've disabled the Wave Catcher." He paused for a few seconds. "You know I could buy somewhere for us here in Dubai. Nobody has to know about it."  
"Believe me, Foaly will find a way. How long ago did you activate the transponder?"  
"Not long. I thought you might want to talk to him yourself." How considerate. Holly picked her helmet off the floor and put it on, the re-opened the radio channel.  
"HOLLY!" Foaly exclaimed through her headset.  
"Foaly. It's nice to hear your voice. If you could be a little quieter, that'd be great."  
"Not as nice as it is to hear yours. I half expected Artemis to have kidnapped you again, but when we hacked a satellite over Fowl Manor and saw that it was empty, we decided that the mud boy must have been taken aswell."  
"I really wish you didn't call me that" Artemis said, just loud enough that Foaly would hear it.  
"Ah! So Haven's favourite mud boy is alive after all. I thought it might have been the ghost of his dead body that activated your transponder." Both Artemis and Holly involuntarily shuddered when he said that. Last night was still all too real for the both of them, but then Foaly had no idea about what had happened. If he had, he would probably have said something worse.  
"Jokes aside" Holly continued before Foaly could continue trying his hand at more Fairy comedy. "When are you coming to pick us up?"  
"Well, considering you're in the middle of nowhere, about 4 more hours. You had to get kidnapped in the middle of the desert, didn't you."  
"So, Eduardo's cloaking device works" Artemis said to himself, but Foaly picked up it.  
"Who's Eduardo?"  
"You'll work that out when you get here" Holly said, quick to interject. "Take your time." Holly would be happy to see Foaly, but the fallout from this was going to big. She'd killed a human, and whether or not it was inadvertently in a struggle to protect herself, she'd still done it, and that was a big no in the LEP. She'd be lucky to keep her badge, though she did hope the circumstances helped her case.  
"Don't worry Holly, the council assigned Trouble to head the investigation. You'll keep your badge." Foaly ended with, but naturally kept the line open. Artemis offered a hand to Holly.  
"I think we should head inside. It has air conditioning." Holly couldn't agree more. Revealing how she felt to Artemis may have done many things, but cooling her down was not one of them. Not now she knew there would be an official investigation- The council didn't even know what they were investigating yet, and that's what made Holly nervous...

 **It's been a fun ride, hasn't it? It's certainly been an interesting one for me, with a genuine mix between people who seem to like this and people who seem to rather dislike me. I suppose that's what comes with putting your work on the internet.**

 **The final chapter is going to be fairly short (Pun not intended), which I'm afraid is just how the story ended up being split. Hopefully it's a nice enough ending for everyone concerned.**


	12. Normality

Artemis wasn't lying about the air conditioning. As soon as Holly walked back into the building, she was hit by a blast of cold air. She hadn't realised just how warm it was outside. They didn't dare move Eduardo Ortega's body, but the other two bodyguards they decided should probably be locked up somewhere before they regained consciousness. In the end they decided to tie them up in the Janitor's closet, just for the irony factor. When they'd finished, both Holly and Artemis walked back into the plaza.  
"This would have been a nice place if it hadn't been run by a madman." Holly said, sitting down on one of the few chairs they'd found.  
"So I guess there's no hope in me taking over this establishment then" Artemis quipped, taking a seat next to Holly.  
"I think you'd be shut down faster than Mulch can release his tunnel gases." Holly joked back. They both came out of their respective laughs looking into each other's eyes. Carefully, Holly scooted over closer to Artemis, and leant her head on his shoulder.  
"Thank you for sticking by me" She said. "What you did, despite the fact you shouldn't have been able to do it, was admirable. I'm glad you were the one by my side."  
"I think I have to thank you more" He replied. "You actually formulated a plan, and you risked your own health for me. I know that a magical discharge of that magnitude can be dangerous."  
"Think nothing of it." Holly said, as Artemis placed a hand on her shoulder. "So, what shall we do now to pass the time?"  
"Well, I know one thing I think we should do."  
"And what would that be?"  
"Find Butler."  
As if on cue, there was an almighty crash as a silver Bentley ploughed straight through the outside wall to the complex, skidding to a halt in the middle of the plaza.  
"Scratch that, I think we've found him."  
Holly just stared at the car, Artemis' hand still resting on her shoulder. "More like he found us."

 **24 HOURS LATER**

Holly found Artemis sitting on the roof of Fowl Manor. Whilst she knew Fowl Manor had a roof, she didn't know anybody could sit on it. But that is where Butler had directed her when she'd asked where Artemis had gone, and she had no reason to not believe him. As she walked out, Artemis beckoned her over to sit next to him, which was impressive, seeing as he hadn't even turned his head. She sat down next to him nonetheless, wrapping her arm around his waist. He reciprocated, but as a result of their height difference his arm went around her shoulder, not that Holly cared.  
"You know" Artemis said, "I usually come up here to forget things"  
That struck Holly; Artemis always seemed to remember everything. "I hope you're not trying to forget about me." It was a petty statement, but she said it anyway.  
"I wouldn't dream of it" He said. "I'm trying to forget about this." Artemis held up a small, black device, a sphere no bigger than the size of a pea.  
"That's seriously the Wave Catcher?"  
"I did tell you that it was small." Artemis replied, crushing the device in his hands.  
"At least it won't be bothering anybody anymore."  
"Honestly Holly, I wish I'd never invented the device. All it has caused is trouble, especially to you. Somebody died because of it. You died because of it. So did I."  
Holly could see the pain in Artemis' eyes. She just hoped he didn't cry, because then she would and the whole place would become a blubbering mess. One of the problems with being an elf was their tendency to be overly emotional. Then again, Artemis Fowl never really cried.  
"Artemis, don't beat yourself up about this. We made it out in the end. Besides, think what came out of our ordeal."  
That made Artemis smile, but he was still sombre. "I do wish that it didn't take both of us dying to finally admit we have feelings for each other."  
"It wouldn't be us otherwise." Holly said. This time Artemis did laugh.  
"No, it most certainly would not. Now, I do suppose there's a reason you came out to see me other than try and make me feel better?"  
Holly swallowed hard. "The Council finished their review of our little adventure."  
"That was quick." Artemis replied. Holly knew he had his own thoughts about the Haven Police Council's 'Review' system, but she also knew he kept those thoughts to himself whenever he was around other fairies.  
"The good news is I'm going to keep my badge."  
"I sense a 'but' in there"  
"I've been suspended for 3 months."  
Artemis almost blew a gasket on the inside, but kept his calm exterior pose. "3 months?"  
"I know what you're thinking Artemis. 3 months is not a lot in fairy terms. A Lieutenant was once suspended for 6 years after he dropped a Goblin down a magma chute. It's on full pay, I'll survive."  
"What are you going to do with your time off?"  
Now it was Holly's turn to smile. "Foaly told me that it'd probably be a god idea to stay on the surface until things cool down in Haven. I'm not anybody's best friend inside the LEP right now, not least because of the manpower they're having to shift to keep this under wraps. So that means you're stuck with me for now."  
"Well, in that case we best find something to do" Artemis commented, a smile forming on his lips. Holly's response was to kiss that smile straight off his face. "I suppose that's one way to start."  
"Oh Arty, you have no idea." Holly whispered, standing to her full height. She took his hand, clutching it firmly. "Race you to the kitchen."  
Artemis looked her straight in the eyes. "Are you challenging me, Holly Short?"  
"Bring it on, mud boy." Holly said, preparing herself to bolt down the stairs. She was going to enjoy this, and, whether he wanted to or not, so was Artemis Fowl.

 **So that's it. We're finished. It has been, for the most part, a fun ride. I want to thank everyone that's the taken the time to read this, and to everyone that's left a nice comment (And even those that haven't). I hope at least some of you enjoyed this.**

 **There is a sequel to this. There's actually 2 sequels to this, but I'm in two minds whether to upload them. If you want to see them (Or, equally, if you don't), send me a quick review and I'll likely base my decision on the consensus. If you want a brief insight into the sequel: it sees a brand new fairy villain, a plot to destroy Haven and the first appearances of Opal Koboi and Raine Vinyaya. It's also about 9000 words longer than this one. Idk, it's up to you.**

 **I suppose all that's left is to say thank you. Over and out.**


	13. Attack On Haven Preview

**So, in my infinite wisdom, I have decided to upload the sequel to 'Dark' on here. But, to tide you over until when that happens, here is a little extract from the upcoming sequel, 'Attack On Haven'.**

 **ATTACK ON HAVEN**

Artemis hadn't been joking about buying Holly a place in Dubai. She should have known he wasn't one to make jokes, but she seriously hadn't expected him to buy her an apartment. It was only a small, 2 bed type of thing, but it was more than she would ever have been able to afford by herself, even converting fairy currency to a more useable form. Holly was now 3 weeks into her 3 month suspension for killing Eduardo Ortega, a Colombian Cocaine baron and businessman who had kidnapped both herself and her human sidekick, now *boyfriend*, Artemis Fowl for his prototype signal jammer. Those mitigating circumstances were the only reason she still had a police job to go back to, such was the magnitude of killing a human above ground. Artemis had offered to take the blame, but Holly refused to let him lie for her, especially as the fairies were starting to finally warm to him. Foaly, Haven's resident genius Centaur and tech guy for the Lower Elements Police, had advised Holly to stay on the surface until things calmed down, but her Commander, Trouble Kelp, had almost had a meltdown at the suggestion of her spending any more time with Artemis Fowl. He had an even worse reaction when Holly and Artemis revealed to him that they were officially a couple (Let's just say, some things were broken in the process), and only an overriding vote from the LEP Council and some creative blackmail from Foaly, who had threatened to leak a video of Trouble and a 'lady friend' to the media- something that impressed Artemis no end- stopped him from doing anything further. It impressed him even more when Foaly revealed he didn't actually have the video. Despite that, she had only been granted a 1 month leave to the surface- though that in itself was a record for longest surface visa ever issued. Both Holly and Artemis had spent the first week at Fowl Manor, but with Artemis' parents, Angeline and Artemis Fowl Sr, returning from a holiday to Jamaica, Artemis had told Holly about the place in Dubai. She had been equal parts shocked, and equal parts relieved that she didn't yet have to face everyone back in Haven, nor face Artemis' parents. So, for the next 2 weeks they had been out in Dubai, but now Holly wanted to go home, back to her house and her fairy friends, even if that did mean having to face up to Trouble and everyone else. And, of course, she was going to bring Artemis with her. But, aside from Foaly who knew everything, she just wasn't going to tell anybody. It would be her little surprise.

 **Attack On Haven is about 9,000 words longer than Dark, and is made up of 19 chapter:**

 **1\. Consequences Of Righteous Activity  
2\. Brave New World  
3\. Trouble And Strife  
4\. Playing With Fire  
5\. The Day Things Changed Forever  
6\. Interlude  
7\. Preparing For War  
8\. Shadows  
9\. The Rise Of Flower Kevoor  
10\. Moments In Eternity  
11\. Plan For Action  
12\. The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friends  
13\. Traitors  
14\. Final Piece Of The Puzzle  
15\. Sacrifice  
16\. Illusions  
17\. Last Chance To Save A Life  
18\. When The Dust Settles  
19\. True Purpose**

 **The first chapter of 'Attack On Haven' will be uploaded on 5th August 2016. Until Then.**


End file.
